Tony DeAngelo wasn’t able to keep himself composed and collected in the third period of Sunday’s Hurricanes-Bruins game at TD Garden.
DeAngelo was sent to the penalty box for an egregious cross-check across the face of Curtis Lazar. The Carolina defenseman didn’t take his punishment quietly, as he proceeded to punch and shove Lazar near the Hurricanes’ net before he skated around chirping with his helmet off.
Rod Brind’Amour surely appreciates and values the edge DeAngelo plays with, but the Carolina head coach knows you can’t go overboard in that department.
“Well, he’s competitive as heck,” Brind’Amour told reporters after the Bruins’ 5-2 win, per team-provided video. “I mean, this guy wants to win bad. Obviously, we don’t want to see that. There’s a line. You got to be careful with the cross there, for sure.”
DeAngelo evidently didn’t get all of his frustration out within the Lazar incident. The first-year Hurricane launched his stick in the direction of Brad Marchand as the star winger put the finishing touches on Boston’s Game 4 win with an empty-net goal.
The B’s boast a mature and savvy group, and this is not their core’s first rodeo in the postseason. With this first-round series now deadlocked at two games apiece, Carolina better hope DeAngelo doesn’t take the bait when Boston tries to get him off his game moving forward.
